Breakdown of Es wird genau kontrolliert, damit niemand etwas schmuggelt.
es
it
etwas
something
genau
exactly / precise, exact
niemand
no one
damit
so that
werden
to be (passive auxiliary + past participle)
kontrollieren
to inspect
schmuggeln
to smuggle
Questions & Answers about Es wird genau kontrolliert, damit niemand etwas schmuggelt.
How does the impersonal passive work in Es wird genau kontrolliert?
An impersonal passive focuses entirely on an action happening, without mentioning who is doing it. Since a standard German sentence needs a subject, we use the dummy pronoun es to fill the first position. The literal meaning is 'It is strictly checked,' which translates naturally to 'Checks are precise.'
Can I drop the es in the first clause?
Only if you move another word to the first position! The dummy es is just a placeholder to keep the conjugated verb (wird) in the second position. If you started the sentence with a location, like hier (here), the es vanishes completely: Hier wird genau kontrolliert.
Why is the verb schmuggelt at the very end of the sentence?
The word damit (so that) is a subordinating conjunction. It introduces a dependent clause, which acts as a rule in German to kick the conjugated verb (schmuggelt) to the very end of that clause.
Why does it say niemand etwas instead of niemand nichts?
Just like standard English, German avoids double negatives. Since niemand (nobody) already makes the clause negative, you use etwas (something/anything) rather than a second negative word like nichts (nothing).
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